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Friday, August 31, 2018

Trump's Trade Tactics: Scare & Insult Canada Into Submission?

From the excerpt below, as reported today by The Toronto Star, it appears that President Trump is bargaining with Canada in bad faith and using scare tactics in the process (the red highlights and frames are mine). You can read their article in its entirety here.




Why should Canadians ever trust him, particularly as he's already tried to bully Canada with his distorted trade facts, as I've discussed at length here? And, he seems to have conveniently forgotten that Canada bailed out American GM and Chrysler's operations in Canada after the U.S. 2008/09 financial crisis...for a loss of CAN$3.7 billion to the Canadian taxpayer...so, to threaten to punish its auto sector in such a petulant manner is unbelievable!

Are there no adults running the U.S. government? It appears that the cat's got their tongues.


And, here's your confirmation of these "off the record" remarks, by Mr. Trump, himself...


Stay tuned for this upcoming Canadian press conference (without the U.S.)...



Notwithstanding Ms. Freeland's press conference (which just concluded) where she re-iterated that "Canada won't sign a trade deal unless it benefits Canadians" and where she announced that trade talks will resume next Wednesday, it doesn't look positive for Canada...if Trump won't compromise, why would Canada agree to his terms in the future, if it doesn't agree now? 

It looks like a tri-lateral trade deal is dead in the water to replace NAFTA. One brave Senator was willing to support U.S. allies...we'll see if the U.S. Congress disagrees with him and approves only a bi-lateral deal between the U.S. and Mexico that doesn't include Canada.


If Congress does approve a deal that excludes Canada, then Canada can look forward to the escalation of a trade war, inasmuch as it appears that the President is out to punish Canadians and cripple Canada's economy with his personal vendetta and agenda (as he already promised to do on June 12 and as described here)...one that is not based on actual and sound economic facts...and one that builds on his already punitive and unjustified steel and aluminum tariffs.

(Below is an excerpt from that article...click here to read it in full)

Finally, trust me, Mr. Trump, when I tell you that no Canadian believes that you love Canada...so, cut the crap...and, when you add a 'but' in a sentence, it completely negates the preceding phrase.